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Article
Publication date: 14 June 2021

Nirit Toshav-Eichner and Liad Bareket-Bojmel

This study sought to examine the attitudes of blue-collar workers toward job automation. The study examined the relations between job automation, fear of job loss and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study sought to examine the attitudes of blue-collar workers toward job automation. The study examined the relations between job automation, fear of job loss and self-actualization.

Design/methodology/approach

Using mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative analysis) with 539 participants overall, we examined employees' attitudes toward job automation through two separate studies conducted in a large public organization that employs blue-, white- and pink-collar employees. The blue-collar workers who participated consisted of waste collectors, gardeners and parking supervisors whose work is at risk of job automation.

Findings

We found that 74% of the blue-collar employees described technology as a “replacer” that simplifies and reduces human work activities, while only 3% perceived it as an “enabler” that could enrich their jobs and expand human potential. Fifty-three percent of the employees in the white-collar professions described technology as a “replacer,” and 36% perceived it as an “enabler.” Among pink-collar workers, 51% perceived technology as an “enabler,” while only 14% perceived it as a “replacer.” A positive relationship between job automation and self-actualization was evident for pink- and white-collar workers, but not for blue-collar workers.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on how employees in different types of jobs perceive technological advancements at work. A classification of the perception of technology as an “enabler” vs a “replacer” is presented. The relationships between job automation and self-actualization in different job types are explored.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 51 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Talk of blue-collar and white-collar workers will seem faintly outdated for many HR managers. For some, blue-collar workers will conjure up images from the 1970s and 1980s of striking mineworkers, some of the terrible conditions in steel works or in car factories in the pre-robot era. And as for white-collar workers, again this term seems a little anachronistic, albeit it has recently been adopted when referring to computerized “white-collar” crime. And as for pink-collar workers, this surely was left for dead in the 1970s along with bell-bottom flares and male perms.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Human Resource Management International Digest, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-0734

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 May 2023

Bora Aksu and Merve Vuslat Aksu

Some fuzzy definitions such as gray collar workers (GCW) needs to be constructed by academic research in management and organization field. The authors propose a framework for…

Abstract

Some fuzzy definitions such as gray collar workers (GCW) needs to be constructed by academic research in management and organization field. The authors propose a framework for researchers who are interested in studying gray collar workforce after the fourth industrial revolution (I4.0) with network perspectives and methods. Hence, understanding different classes of workforce in the new industrial era needs better understandings of fuzzy concepts and well collected data for decision-making processes. Since literature of management studies are not sufficient to identify and study those new classes, the authors begin with the definition of collar colors in management studies. Following that section, referring to the importance of GCW research, a new literature construction via different types of network analyses is discussed. Three different methods of network concepts are matched with three main social science paradigms. The authors believe that the three perspectives are in the same importance about constructing a literature of future workforce in organizations in particular the GCW who are more exposed in technological developments and organizational changes.

Details

Management and Organizational Studies on Blue- and Gray-collar Workers: Diversity of Collars
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-754-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Marjolein Lips-Wiersma, Sarah Wright and Bryan Dik

The purpose of this paper is to compare the importance currently placed on meaningful work (MFW), and determine the frequency by which it is experienced in blue-, pink-, and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the importance currently placed on meaningful work (MFW), and determine the frequency by which it is experienced in blue-, pink-, and white-collar occupations.

Design/methodology/approachs

Using the comprehensive meaningful work scale (Lips-Wiersma and Wright, 2012) with 1,683 workers across two studies, ANOVAs were conducted to examine differences in dimensions of MFW.

Findings

While unity with others and developing the inner self were regarded as equally important for white-, blue-, and pink-collar workers, the authors data suggest that white-collar workers placed more importance on expressing full potential and serving others than blue-collar workers. The frequency of experiencing MFW differed across the three groups with white-collar workers experiencing higher levels of unity with others, expressing full potential, and serving others; however no mean differences were found for developing the inner self.

Originality/value

This study is the first to empirically investigate an oft-discussed but previously untested question: does the experience of MFW differ across white-, blue-, and pink-collar jobs?

Details

Career Development International, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 November 2022

Maryam Kamaei and Petter Gottschalk

The purpose of this study is to compare women committing pink-collar and red-collar crimes in Iran. In the current study, the pink-collar crime, studying murder by women as…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to compare women committing pink-collar and red-collar crimes in Iran. In the current study, the pink-collar crime, studying murder by women as red-collar criminals and the root of “pink-collar crime” is considered the related terms.

Design/methodology/approach

Descriptive analytical method is used in this article.

Findings

It was previously thought that white-collar crime has no victim, and it is not necessary to imprison the criminal or consider other punishments. There is no recognized solution for such crimes, as opposed to the legislature and the government’s efforts, and therefore, consumers, government, employees, companies and executives cannot realize these crimes or be aware of them. Unfortunately, recognizing red-collar crimes is impossible using the old, outdated set of laws, and new laws are required. The phenomenon of white- and red-collar crime is endless and must always be in the attention of society to prevent its dangerous consequences for the community.

Originality/value

This article is original and has been submitted only to this journal and has not been submitted to another journal at the same time.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2013

Linda Koopmans, Claire Bernaards, Vincent Hildebrandt, Stef van Buuren, Allard J. van der Beek and Henrica C.W. de Vet

The purpose of the current study is to develop a generic and short questionnaire to measure work performance at the individual level – the Individual Work Performance…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the current study is to develop a generic and short questionnaire to measure work performance at the individual level – the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). The IWPQ was based on a four‐dimensional conceptual framework, in which individual work performance consisted of task performance, contextual performance, adaptive performance, and counterproductive work behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

After pilot‐testing, the 47‐item IWPQ was field‐tested amongst a representative sample of 1,181 Dutch blue, pink, and white collar workers. Factor analysis was used to examine whether the four‐dimensional conceptual framework could be confirmed. Rasch analysis was used to examine the functioning of the items in more detail. Finally, it was examined whether generic scales could be constructed.

Findings

A generic, three‐dimensional conceptual framework was identified, in which individual work performance consisted of task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive work behavior. Generic, short scales could be constructed that fitted the Rasch model.

Research limitations/implications

A generic, short questionnaire can be used to measure individual work performance across occupational sectors. In future versions of the IWPQ, more difficult items should be added to improve discriminative ability at the high ranges of the scale.

Originality/value

This study shows that, using Rasch analysis, a generic and short questionnaire can be used to measure individual work performance.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 62 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 October 2018

Amy Kroska and Marshall R. Schmidt

We examine the effect of an offender’s occupational status on criminal sentencing recommendations using a vignette experiment that crosses the offender’s occupational status…

Abstract

Purpose

We examine the effect of an offender’s occupational status on criminal sentencing recommendations using a vignette experiment that crosses the offender’s occupational status (white-collar vs blue- or pink-collar) and the crime label, with one label (overcharging) associated with white-collar offenders and the other (robbery) associated with lower-status offenders. We expect negative and potent post-crime impressions of the offender and the crime to increase perceptions of criminality and, in turn, the recommended sentence. We term these negative and potent impressions “criminality scores.” Drawing on affect control theory (ACT) impression formation equations, we generate criminality scores for the offenders and the crimes in each condition and, using those scores as a guide, predict that white-collar offenders and offenders described as “robbing” will receive a higher recommended sentence. We also expect eight perceptual factors central to theories of judicial sentencing mediate these relationships.

Methodology

We test these hypotheses with a vignette experiment, administered to female university students, that varies a male offender’s occupation and the word used to describe his crime.

Findings

Consistent with our ACT-derived predictions, white-collar offenders and offenders described as robbing received a higher recommended sentence. But, contrary to predictions, only one perceptual factor, crime seriousness, mediated these effects, and the mediation was partial.

Research Implications

Our findings suggest the perpetrator’s post-crime appearance of negativity and power offer a valuable supplement to theories of judicial sentencing.

Originality

This study is the first to test the hypothesis that sentencing disparities may be due to the way the perpetrators’ sociodemographic attributes shape their post-crime appearance of negativity and power.

Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2004

Cynthia L. Gramm and John F. Schnell

Traditionally, hiring indefinite duration contract employees has been the dominant method used by U.S. organizations to staff their labor needs. Indefinite duration contract…

Abstract

Traditionally, hiring indefinite duration contract employees has been the dominant method used by U.S. organizations to staff their labor needs. Indefinite duration contract employees, hereafter referred to as “regular” employees, have three defining characteristics: (1) they are hired directly as employees of the organization whose work they perform; (2) the duration of the employment relationship is unspecified, with a mutual expectation that it will continue as long as it is mutually satisfactory; and (3) the employment relationship provides ongoing – as opposed to intermittent – work. When their demand for labor increases, organizations staffed exclusively by regular employees can respond by having their employees work overtime or by hiring additional regular employees. Conversely, when their demand for labor decreases, such organizations can either maintain “inventories” of excess regular employees or reduce labor inputs by laying-off or reducing the work hours of regular employees.

Details

Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-305-1

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1988

David Macarov

The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible…

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Abstract

The author argues that we must stop and take a look at what our insistence on human labour as the basis of our society is doing to us, and begin to search for possible alternatives. We need the vision and the courage to aim for the highest level of technology attainable for the widest possible use in both industry and services. We need financial arrangements that will encourage people to invent themselves out of work. Our goal, the article argues, must be the reduction of human labour to the greatest extent possible, to free people for more enjoyable, creative, human activities.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 8 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 January 2020

Maureen Snow Andrade and Jonathan H. Westover

Job satisfaction has positive outcomes for individuals and organizations. These include decreased turnover and conflict, increased productivity, improved work quality and…

Abstract

Purpose

Job satisfaction has positive outcomes for individuals and organizations. These include decreased turnover and conflict, increased productivity, improved work quality and creativity and innovation. Determinants entail work–life balance, advancement and development opportunities, relationships with co-workers and managers, working conditions and intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, among others. Understanding these determinants across workers and contexts is critical for effective management and the achievement of organizational goals. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This study, based on data from the International Social Survey Program, examines the impact of various aspects of work-life balance, rewards and work relations on job satisfaction across occupations.

Findings

Findings indicate more differences than similarities among countries and occupations with workers in managerial and professional positions experiencing the highest job satisfaction levels.

Originality/value

Although extensive research has documented the benefits and determinants of job satisfaction, it has not focused on global comparisons across occupational categories.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

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